Adjusting mechanism for platform-supports for harvester-machines.



No. 732,093. PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903. J. MAGPHAIL.

ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR PLATFORM SUPPORTS FOR HARVESTER MAcHINEs.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 14. 1901.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED' JUNE 30, 1903.

J. MAGPHAIL. ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR PLATFORM SUPPORTS FOR HARVESTER MACHINES.

Arrmouxon TILED MAY 14, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

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" ill/1- w ii AWL? 4 UNITED STATES Patented June 30, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MACPHAIL, OF BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCCORMICK HARVESTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORA- TION OF ILLINOIS.

ADlUSTiNG MECHANISM FOR PLATFORM-SUPPORTS FOR HARVESTER-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 732,093, dated June 30, 1903. Application filed May 14, 1901. Serial No. 60,178. (No model.)

To all whom itmcty concern:

Be it known thatI, JAMES MACPHAIL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Adjusting Mechanism for Platform Supports for Harvester-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to adjusting mechanism for platform-supports for harvestermachines.

The object of the invention is to provide means which are simple and eflicient for adjusting the platform-supports and wherein the adjusting means may be power-actuated.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the extreme inner end of the platform-supports, as well as the fulcrum-bearing therefor, may be quickly and efliciently adjusted.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for simultaneously adjusting the extreme inner end and the fulcrum-bearing for the platform-support.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide means whereby the platform -support may be adjusted into positions parallel with respect to itself with the least expenditure of power.-

Other objects of the invention Will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists, substantially, in the construction, combination, location, and arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully 3 5 hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying drawings, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and to the various views and reference-signs 4o appearing thereon, Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a harvesting machine of the header type, showing the application thereto of a platform-support-adjusting mechanism embodying the principles of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detached detail view of a construction of adjusting mechanism for platform-supports embodying the principles of my invention, the platform and the supporting-axle being in transverse section. Fig. 3

is a top plan View of the construction shown in Fig. 2, parts being broken away. Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 2, showing an endless-chain arrangement for effecting the desired adjusting and embraced Within the spirit and scope of my invention. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 4, showinga modified arrangement embraced within the spirit and scope of my invention.

The same part is designated by the same reference-sign wherever it occurs throughout the several views.

Reference-sign A designates generally a grain-harvester machine of the header type, Bthe traction-wheels, andCthe axle. These parts may be of the usual or any well-known construction and arrangement.

In the construction of grain-harvesters of the type to which the present invention is applied it is the custom to support the platform and carrier upon the main axle, the carrier-supporting frame being journaled upon the axle to swing or tilt thereupon, so that the platform may be tilted when desired.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, reference-sign D designates the platform; E, theplatform-supportingarms,said arms being supported upon brackets F, said brackets being journaled upon the main axle C in the usual manner, and G designates the tilting lever or arm by which the platform-supporting arms may be tilted about the axle, it being understood that a bracket F is journaled upon or attached to the axle at each end thereof, the arms E extending forwardly to form supports for the carrier D, as clearly shown.

In the construction of machines of the type above referred to it is desirable to provide means whereby the supporting-arms E of the platform-supporting frame may be-adjusted relatively to the supportingbrackets F','and it is desirable that this adjustment be efiected quickly and expeditiously. It is also desirable that the adjustmentof one of the sup- 5 porting-arms E be independent ofthe adjustment of the other supporting-arm E. It is also desirable that the supporting-arms E be adjusted into positions parallel with respect to themselves, so as to maintain the platform IOO when in proper operating position in a horizontal plane. The platform being supported upon the forwardly-projecting free ends of the supportingarms E, it will be apparent that a very heavy weight is imposed upon the connections by which the arms E are supported from, the brackets F, and heretofore in effecting the desired adjustment of the supportingarms E it has been necessary to raise or lift the platform at the outer end of the supporting-arms E by manual labor, requiring the services of several men to effect the raising or lifting thereof by reason of the weight of the platform and its support. It is among the special objects and purposes of my invention to avoid these objections and to provide means whereby the desired adjustment may be effected quickly and readily and by a single operator.

My invention may be embodied in a wide variety of specifically different constructions, and I have shown several constructions embodying the principles thereof. The simplest form is shown in Fig. 6, wherein referencesign F designates the supporting-bracket, which is journaled to rock or swing with or with reference to the axle, and E designates the platform-supporting arm. Adjacent to its inner end the platform-supporting arm E is supported upon the bracket F by means of a threaded screw-rod I-I, said threaded rod having loose pivotal connection, as at J, with the supporting-arm E and operating loosely through a bearing K, formed in the supporting-bracket F. A nut L, threaded upon the screw-rod H and bearing upon the upper face or side of bracket F, serves to support the screw-rod, and by turning the nut L in one direction or the other, which may be effected by a monkeywrench, spanner-bar, or otherwise, a vertical adjustment of the screw-rod H is effected. A second threaded rod M is connected, as at N, to the extreme inner end of the supporting-arm E and operates loosely through an opening or passage in supporting-bracket F, and a nut O, threaded upon the screw-rod M, is arranged to bear against the under side or face of the supporting-bracket F. From this construction it will be seen that the supportingarm E is fulcru med at J, and the weight of the platform D normally tends to rock the arms E about their fulcrum-points J, thereby elevating or raising the extreme inner ends of the arms E, and consequently the nuts 0 afford means for adjustably regulating the extent of the upward movement of the inner ends of the platform-supporting arms E under the influence of the weight imposed upon the outer or free ends of such arms. It will also be seen that the adjustment of nut L serves to readily adjust the hearing or fulcrum point J of the supporting-arms. For instance, the arm E may be raised, or rather the fulcrum or bearing point J thereof maybe raised, or lowered by turning the nut L in one direction or the other,,and the inclination of the platform or of the platform-supporting arms E may be adj ustably regulated by the nut 0.

It may sometimes be desirable to provide means whereby the nuts are simultaneously turned upon the adjusting screw-rod-that is, as the nut which bears againstthe upper side or face of supporting-bracket F is rotated to raise the fulcrumed point of the platform-supporting arms the nut which regulates the inclination of said arm about its fulcrum-point may be simultaneously turned or backed off, so as to maintain the parallelism of the platform. This result may be offected in many different ways. For instance, in Figs. 2 and 3 I have shown the supporting screw-rods H M pivotally connected to the platform-supporting arm E at the points J and N, respectively, in the manner above described with reference to the construction shown in Fig. 6, and I have shown the nuts L O in the form of worm-blocks respectively threaded upon the screw-rods H M, the one bearing against the upper side or face of supporting-bracket F and the other against the lower side or face of said bracket, and I journal a rod P in suitable bearings Q R, secured to bracket F and carrying worm-gears S T, respectively arranged to engage or to intermesh with the worm-blocks L O. From this construction it will be seen that by axially rotating the actuating-rod P the adjusting worm-nuts L O are simultaneously actuated and rotated, and consequently as the wormnut L is turned up to raise the fulcrum-point J the nut O is rotated in the same direction, thereby maintaining parallelism of the supporting-arm E in its adjusted positions, and similarly when the worm block or nut L is backed ofi to lower the fulcrum-point J the worm-block O is correspondingly turned up, thus securing the same result of maintaining parallelism of the supporting-arm E.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown a modified construction wherein the adjusting-nuts L' O are mounted upon the screw-rods H M in the same manner as above described and in the same relation with respect to'the supporting-bracket F that is, with the nut L bearing against the top side or face of said supporting-bracket and the nut 0 bearing against the under side or face of such bracket, the screw-rods 1-1 M being connected to the platform-supporting arm E at the points J N Ho wever,iustead of simultaneously operating the nuts L 0 by means of a transverse operating-rod P and intermeshing worm-gears and worm-blocks, as above described with reference to the constructions shown in Figs. 2 and 3, I employ in the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 a sprocket-chainW,arranged to operate over sprocket-wheels U V, respectively mounted upon or connected to the nuts L 0 In order to effect this result, the sprocket-gears U V should occupy positions within the same plane, and consequently the bracket F may be suitably angled or bent, as

shown, to bring said sprocket-gears into the desired relation.

While I have described my invention as applied to a harvesting-machine of the header type, I do not desire to be limited or confined thereto. I also desire it to be understood that my invention is not to be limited or restricted 'to the specific details of construction and arrangement thereof, as many changes therein and variations therefrom would readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art and still fall within the spirit and scope of my invention; but,

Having now set forth the object and nature of myinvention and various constructions embodying the principles thereof, what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a supporting device for grain-harvester platforms, the combination with a main axle and platform-supporting arms, of a bracket journaled upon said main axle to tilt thereon and having openings therethrough, inner and outer adjusting screwrods connected to said supporting-arms and operating loosely through said bracket, and nuts carried by said screw-rods and freely bearing respectively against the top and under sides or faces of said supporting-bracket, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a main axle, a platform-supporting arm, a rigid supporting-bracket therefor,said bracket having openings therethrough and mounted and supported upon said axle, an inner and an outer non-rotatable supporting-rod connected to said arm and operating loosely through the openings in said bracket, and adj usting-nuts threaded upon said rods and freely bearing respectively against the upper and under sides of said bracket, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a main axle, a platform-supporting arm, a bracket journaled upon said main axle to tilt thereon, a support connected to said arm, means for adjusting said support upon said bracket, a non-rotatable threaded rod connected to the inner end of said arm and operating loosely through said bracket, and a nut threaded upon said rod and bearing freely against the under side or face of said bracket, whereby said supporting-arm may be adj usted with reference to said support, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a main axle, a platform-supporting arm, a supporting-bracket therefor, said supportingbracket being journaled upon said main axle to tilt thereon, said bracket having an opening therethrough, a non-rotatable rod connected to said supporting-arm and operating loosely through the opening in said bracket, a nut threaded upon said rod and freely bearing against the under side of said bracket, and an additional support connecting said supporting-arm to said bracket, whereby by adjusting said nut the tilt of said supportingarm about said additional support maybe adjustably regulated, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a platform-supporting arm, rods connected to said arm, a bracket, said rods arranged to operate loosely through said bracket, nuts threaded upon said rods, one of said nuts arranged to bear against the upper side of said bracket, and the other arranged to bear against the under side of said bracket, and means for simultaneously rotating or adj usting said nuts, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a platform-supporting arm, an inner and outer rod connected to said arm, a bracket through which said rods loosely operate, a nut threaded upon said outer rod and hearing against the upper side of said bracket thereby forming an adjustable support for said arm, and a nut threaded upon the inner rod and bearing against the under side of said bracket and means for simultaneously adjusting said nuts, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a main axle, a platform-supporting arm, an inner and an outer rod connected thereto, a bracket rigidly mounted on said axle, said rods operating loosely through said bracket, a nut threaded upon the outer rod and hearing against the upper side of said bracket, a nut threaded upon the inner rod and bearing against the under side of said bracket whereby said arm may be adjusted, and means for simultaneously operating said nuts, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In an apparatus of the class described, a platform-supporting arm, an inner and an outer rod connected thereto, a bracket, said rods operating loosely through said bracket, a worm-nut threaded upon said outer rod and bearin g against the upper side of said bracket, a worm-nut threaded upon the other of said rods and arranged to bear against the under side of said bracket, and a rod carrying wormgears arranged to mesh with said worm-nuts for simultaneously adjusting said worm-nuts, as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 4th day of May, 1901, in the pres ence of the subscribing witnesses.

JAMES MACPHAIL.

Witnesses:

E. O. SEMPLE, S. E. DARBY.

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